Hogfish starting to kick up as cooler weather pushes in
Before getting a few hours of sleep last Saturday, I decided to glance at my phone one last time and see what the weather was going to be like offshore Sunday morning. All week the forecast was calm, with seas less than two feet. The last glance at Sailflow showed a new forecast, a steady 15 MPH southeast wind.
Ouch.
The following morning I met family friend Caleb Grimes, and we loaded up the legal limit before pushing off from the Bradenton Yacht Club.The original plan was to run about 20 miles for grouper, but the stiff breeze nixed tat. A quick stop for bait, and we were headed around Bean Point -- greeted by steep two-to-three foot southern seas.
I set a new course to the Southwest around 10 miles, where we would look first for hogfish. It's a fishery that is still new to many, but one that we wanted to try.
We plowed through the seas to arrive in 50 feet of water. The surface action was immediate, as mackerel were interested in our freelined whitebaits.
After about 10 minutes, the Hogfish Whisperer -- AKA Geoff Szymanski -- hooked into a nice fish on the bottom. "Hog! I'm calling hog!" he said.
"It is a hog!" he confirmed, as it started to show.
Our quick celebration turned into five people all matching tackle in an attempt to join in on the hogfish bite. A 4000-sized reel with 20-pound braided line, a 1-ounce weight, swivel and about three feet of 30-pound fluorocarbon. The bait of choice was half a shrimp.
Next thing I know, I'm playing mate, unhooking mangrove snapper and hogfish one after another. Jon Schaub had his light tackle put to the test, and we all felt what was on the other end.
"That's a nice hog!" I shouted, while filming with the GoPro as an 8-pound male hogfish was lifted into the boat.
The hogfish frenzy lasted for about 45 minutes. We moved around a bit before landing more mangrove snapper -- but no hogs.
We then ran north, ending in about 45 feet of water, where the hogfish were once again hungry. We put another six or so in the box with a few big mangrove snapper.
We made one more stop in 35 feet of water but we only got the better of one 24-inch gag.
We ended with 15 hogfish. Actually make that 14. Schaub's big hogfish decided to make a break for it during the fillet photo session, so if anyone finds an 8-pound hogfish near the BYC they can contact me to return it -- thanks!
The hogfishing should be consistent through the winter as they school up on shallow structure to spawn. It's an extremely fun fishery that is a blast to take part of. You can see clips of our day online at youtube.com/chapper15.
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Hogfish starting to kick up as cooler weather pushes in ."